Help with pad and rotor selection (2013+ cars)

[Agentlongwood]

It's getting to be that time for me to replace some pads and rotors.  I've been reading a ton and haven't found a lot of concrete info, so I thought I'd just ask about recommendations and personal experiences.  The car is a 2014 MKS, and it's my daily driver.  No autocross, or road course use.  Occasional trips to the drag strip, though.  Primarily want a pad that's quiet, and low dust.  Would like it to perform as good or better than stock pads.  For rotors, just quality blank or slotted.  Not looking at cross drilled.  I had a set on a previous car and you could hear the pads going over the drilled holes if it was quiet.  Forgive my ignorance on some of these topics.  This is the first car I've owned where I've been buying quality parts instead of whatever's cheapest... it's uncharted territory for me.

Is there a pad that is just flat out better than factory in all dimensions?

Is Stoptech a reputable brand for rotors?

 

[sholxgt]

Rotors warped and pedal pulsating when the brakes get hot?  That's where I was at when I bought my MKS used.  Brakes felt OK on a test drive, but as soon as they got warm, they pulsated.

Here's what I went with:
OEM PP calipers
Raybestos Police rotors
Raybestos Police pads

I can recommend the PP calipers (not an expensive upgrade) and the Raybestos Police rotors, but I think you can do better on the pads.  For a clean pad, I'd give the Akebono ceramics a try.  Rock Auto carries them.  The Raybestos police pads are very dirty and don't offer much in return.

StopTech is a reputable brand, but they do have street and sport lines and a wide product catalog.  I would not trust all of their stuff to be great since they are just a side brand of Centric that goes from the bottom to the...maybe middle/high middle?

I will say that I've put 20k very hard mountain driving miles on my set up and there is zero pulsating or warping.  My complaint is just that they still overheat easily.  A few 100-60, 70-30, 50-20, downhill runs through the mountains and they just fade away.

I'm from FL and went to UCF.  I can assure you that you'll never have my concerns there.  LOL

 

[SHOdded]

EBC yellowstuff.  Or Orangestuff if you can find the fitment.  Talk to Carbotech also, you may need the next step up from 1521s maybe an AX6?

 

[SHO9987]

I recommend EBC as well.  I currently have the EBC slotted rotors, they are holding up nicely.  (I had powerstop on my old 2010 SHO, those warped on me).

I ran with the EBC red stuff pads until they started squeaking (500 miles).  I thought brake dust was building up in the slots and causing the squeaking. Turns out I just didn't bed them properly, they come with a break-in layer to assist in bedding.  Once that break-in coating is worn off, get aggressive with them.  5-8 aggressive braking runs from 60mph to 20mph, then an easy cruise with out stopping to let them cool. After that, those brakes ran GREAT, no more squeaking either. 
Pros: They had a lot of bite to them.
Cons: There was a moderate amount of fade as they heat up. Moderate amount of brake dust.

With that being said, I had already purchased a set of hyper ceramic pads from Disc Italia (thinking the squeaking was from EBC pads at the time).  I switched them out anyway and followed the same break in procedure. 
Pros: Minimal fade (it takes a lot to heat these pads up). Very low brake dust.
Cons: Less "bite" compared to EBC red stuff.

At the end of the day, it comes down to what you want.  I stuck with the Hyper Ceramic for several reasons, they have very very low brake dust, they have very very little fade, and I just like feel of them.  I do have the EBC red stuff in the boxes as back up if I were to ever need them.

While I haven't personally tried it, EBC plain rotors with the hyper ceramic pads should be a very quiet, low dust, yet effective setup.  If you do want super quiet, maybe stay away from slotted rotors though.

 

[Agentlongwood]

I'm from FL and went to UCF.  I can assure you that you'll never have my concerns there.  LOL

Whoa, I actually went to UCF as well... I was in the Marching Band from 2002-2005.  Small world.